Watch The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (Zangiku monogatari) online

"I am a tyro in view of Japanese cinema (one reason why I often feel ashamed to call myself a cinema buff), and among Mizoguchi's filmography, my only previous viewing is his later epic saga SANSHO THE BAILIFF (1954, 7/10), a haunting revenge tale with a cogent message about sacrifice and redemption, whereas in THE STORY OF THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUMS, which is shot much earlier, pre-WWII, the same ideas have been incubated through a love story barred by the class gulf, Otoku (Mori) is a symbol of devotion and forbearance and Kikunosuke (Hanayagi) is a man of moral integrity, occasionally under the affliction of hardship, he is worn out and evinces rather disappointing male chauvinism, but she accepts and assimilates all these negative effluvia until the ultimate sacrifice, as long as Kikunosuke can regain his social status and fame through his bona-fide acting after years of studying and training"